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Making tax and social security decisions: lean and deskilling in the UK Civil Service
Author(s) -
Martin Douglas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
new technology, work and employment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.889
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-005X
pISSN - 0268-1072
DOI - 10.1111/ntwe.12092
Subject(s) - deskilling , business , social security , government (linguistics) , civil servants , public relations , work (physics) , lean manufacturing , face (sociological concept) , service (business) , public economics , marketing , political science , economics , sociology , law , engineering , mechanical engineering , social science , linguistics , philosophy , politics
Lean working has had a significant impact on the work skills of civil servants. This study examines the impact of lean specifically focusing on ‘decision‐makers’, those civil servants engaged in deciding tax and social security claims. Using qualitative data from trade union members and stewards in two major government departments, this study found significant evidence of deskilling often in the face of dealing with potentially complex legal and factual issues. Using Mashaw's framework of administrative justice, the article argues that management's use of lean was evidence of an accelerated shift to a managerial model of administering tax and benefits where the administrative processes of decision‐making become paramount at the expense of the quality of the decisions made.